Page 29
I've felt a bit
bogged down on the project lately but I think I'm actually starting to see some
light at the end of the tunnel. If I can maintain the pace, I should be putting
the final paint on by the upcoming weekend. Between coats, I'll be mouting fuel
filters, oil tanks, batteries, gauges, wire harnesses and cabling etc. Engines
are due to arrive any day now.
I spent some time working in the forward fuel tank enclosure under the console.
It has now been converted into a storage area which will house the batteries and
a fresh water tank and washdown system. I fashioned a little drain into the
piece of glass I'd cut out of the bottom. Sorry but I got busy with this and
forgot to take pics of several steps. The first thing I did was glass a little
cup onto the underside of the section I'd cut out of the bottom of the
enclosure. This little cup is about 1/2" deep. I molded the cup in a liquid
laundry detergent lid.
It was laid up with two layers of 1708 and was glassed to the bottom of the pan with 3 layers of 1708. I cut the pieces across the grain of the stitching. This allowed me to stretch the pieces and form them to the round shapes nicely. After the cup was glassed in place, I flipped the panel over and ground off the part of the pan that was covering the cup. A 1/2 inch male PVC elbow (pipe thread to barb) was inserted through a hole drilled in the bottom of the cup with the pipe thread inside the cup and the barb piece hanging below the cup. The area inside the cup was filled with a mixture of resin, milled fibers and aerosil.
This locked the fitting in place. It will be connected to the forward fish box drain via a short section of braided hose and stainless clamps. Then the panel will be glassed back in place and re-foamed through a pour hole. I placed these tongue depressors around the opening to hold the panel in place while it's glassed from above. You can just make out the other barbed elbow that's screwed into a T fitting on the forward fish box drain line.
Originally, I was
going to install a PVC nipple directly between the T fitting and the cup in the
floor panel. That nipple would've been secured with the same mixture of milled
fibers, resin and aerosil. However, I decided against it as that would form a
very rigid connection that would more than likely crack and leak through normal
hull movement. The flexible hose will eliminate that potential problem. This
drain is only here to handle incidental splash water that finds its way into the
enclosure anyway. The drain eliminates the need for a dedicated bilge pump.
I also glassed in these 4 pads that will provide anchor points for the straps
that will hold the freshwater tank in place.
I cut the enclosure lid in half and glassed over the ends to seal the wood core. A piano hinge will be installed on the seam. This will give me easy access to the enclosure from inside the console. The holes drilled in the one piece provide access for PVC fittings that will handle water fill and vent and battery cable access points. The entire enclosure and lid will get a fresh layer of gel-coat to finish it off.
While I was under the console, I finished glassing in the wood anchor pads I'd glued in before. I also added these pieces of 1 inch PVC pipe. They'll give me plenty of places to secure wires and cabling in a neater fashion than what I had before.
